What is Ebonics?

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Recommended: Cultural and linguistic diversity

Our world is full of different cultures and languages. For many years America has challenged other forms of language besides English. With America becoming more diverse the country can no longer ignore the different languages within our society. The African-American culture has gone through a transition of what it means to be “black” in America and language is no acceptance. Africans brought to America did not understand English but over time many blacks learned the socially acceptable or proper form of language. Even though blacks willing learned English, the African-American community language has always been distinctive, and only for blacks to embrace and understand. The Black American English known as Ebonics became a topic of controversy in 1996, and is still debated as a critical language for African-Americans. Who says the only language in America should be English and why is it important for African-Americans to have their own language?

National identity and native language for ethnic groups is no stranger to controversy. Immigrant groups from every part of the world have routinely brought their languages to the United States, and African-Americans were no different (Baugh, 2005). There are more than 47 million people in the U.S. between age five an older who speak a language other than English at home, and the top five languages are Spanish, Chinese, French, German and Tagalog (Hybels, and Weaver, 2007).

Fourteen years ago, in Oakland California the Ebonics debate came to the forefront. The term Ebonics, which is a portmanteau word of ebony and phonics, has been suggested as the alternative name for this dialect. Ebonics is a language system with its own vocabulary, rules of grammar, and structure. It is also k...

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...e (Baugh, 2005).

Works Cited

Hybels, S. & and Weaver, R.L., (2007). Communicating Effectively (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill

Baugh, J. (2005). Ebony + Phonics. Retrieved July 12, 2010, from http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/AAVE/ebonics/

Rush, L. (1997). The Ebonics debate. Psych Discourse, 28(2&3), 6. Retrieved July 12, 2010, from http://www.princeton.edu/~browning/news/rush.html

Rubba, J. (1997, February 3). Ebonics: Q & A. Retrieved July 12, 2010, from http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba/ebonics.html

Rickford, J. R. (n.d.). What is Ebonics? (African-American Vernacular English). Stanford University. Retrieved July 12, 2010, from http://www.lsadc.org/info/pdf_files/Ebonics.pdf

Rickford, J. R. (1997, January 3). LSA Resolution on the Oakland "Ebonics" Issue. Retrieved July 12, 2010, from http://www.lsadc.org/info/pdf_files/Ebonics.pdf

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